


What Gotham Needs

by g_xlatea



Category: DCU
Genre: Jason Todd Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27980106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/g_xlatea/pseuds/g_xlatea
Summary: Where there is death, there will always be death.The warehouse is a fixed point, but the devil is in the details.Updates on the 10th of every month
Kudos: 14





	1. a phone call is made

When Dick got back from space, he was in a good mood. He was looking forward to going home and relaxing in the bath; finally getting a breather. Later, the Titans could have had some downtime to hang out outside of costume.

Instead he got a phone call and had his whole world devastated.

Bruce was dead. His father ~~did he have a right to think of the man so?~~ was dead. When was the last time they had spoken? He couldn't remember. And now he would never get the chance again.

His world was crumbling around him. Alfred's voice in his ear, the grief evident in the voice of the older man, was all that was keeping him from losing it.

Jason was in critical condition. There would be time to mourn later. His little Wing needed him. Gotham was without any of its protectors. ~~oh god barbara, he didn't even know~~ Nightwing was needed. Alfred was coping with the death and the hurt his children had endured alone.

He had responsibilties to take care of. No time for rest. So he told the Titans, quickly changed, and he was off.

As he arrived in Gotham, he remembered the last time he had come. That was a terrible visit. He wasn't all there the last time he saw Bruce and now he was realising that he would not get the chance to meet him again.

He had missed the funeral. It had happened weeks ago, when he was off-planet. ~~damned mission~~ What kind of son was he? ~~not a son, though, was he?~~

He rang the bell and Alfred answered. The man he thought of as another father stood in the doorway, his eyes shadowed. It seemed that the enormity of the manor was dwarfing him.

Alfred had lost a son and Dick a father. For a second they stood, surrounded by the stillness of an estate that was much too empty. Then they mustered up tired smiles in greeting. (Words were still beyond reach.)

This was just a brief layover. There would be time for mourning and caring soon, but not now. Dick went and kept his stuff in his old room, and after left for the hospital.

On the way over, Alfred filled him in with more details. His already shattered heart broke more. So much had changed and he couldn't even begin to comprehend it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alfred calls him, cos fuck Dick finding all important information through the newspaper and databases.


	2. bedside vigil

Barbara was at the hospital. She had been the one who had convinced Alfred to head home and freshen up. (He wouldn't have it until she told him to at least meet Dick).

She looked at Jason, in a coma. (Bruce's body had shielded him from the explosion but his injuries from being beaten were too severe). He was a kid, only fifteen, and the Joker had beaten him within an inch of his life.

The man who had inspired her to become Batgirl was dead. Bruce was a good man, one of very few in the world, and he was gone.

She hated that damn clown so much. He shot her and killed Bruce, took so much from Jason. (Because this trauma the boy will have to live with, nevermind what lasting effects there might be from the injuries.)

But that was for later. First, Jason needed to wake up. There would be surgeries and therapy before he, before they, could even think of the after. (If there was an after; if he woke up. But that thought was too morbid to consider yet.)

Dick entered the room. He wasn't panting but there was a controlled urgency in his body that betrayed his worry.

When he had gone off-planet, everything had seemed fine. Gotham had its protectors: Batman, Robin and Batgirl. Nothing could stop them. And he came back to one dead, the other in a coma and the third paralysed.

Still, even with the circumstances, she was glad to see him. Having lost so much, it felt nice to see what was still left. 

She sees his eyes latch onto her wheelchair and widen, but he doesn't say anything. Good, Alfred must have told him. She isn't sure she could handle any questions, or concern, right now.

They stay there in vigil. Quiet in grief, for what has been lost. But determination shines through on their faces. They will protect what is left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might come back and edit chapters to make them longer. But I wouldn't hold my breath for it; I generally write short.


End file.
